Sectional Preview: Greencastle Regional

The high school season is almost over and we are getting locked in for the State Playoffs. It is that time of year when we start looking ahead and previewing each and every Sectional. We will start with Michigan City Regional and have two previews per day until the start of the Sectional tournament on Tuesday, March 2. Today, let’s look at the Greencastle Regional.   Sectional 25: Frankfort The Teams: Crawfordsville, Danville, Frankfort, Greencastle, Monrovia, North Montgomery, Tri-West Our Contenders: Crawfordsville, Danville, Tri-West Players To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="1048732" first="Brady" last="Ruggles"] (2022) - Danville Prediction: This Sectional could not be more of a three-team race than it is. Crawfordsville (16-5), Tri-West (12-9), and Danville (17-4) come in as the only teams with winning records, and their only losses against Sectional opponents have come against each other. Crawfordsville does have wins over both teams by 5 at Tri-West and by 12 vs Danville. Meanwhile, Danville and Tri-West split during the regular season with each team winning by 13. The first game of this Sectional will feature Crawfordsville and [player_tooltip player_id="1139243" first="Ian" last="Hensley"] will battle Tri-West their senior trio of Ethan Depinet, [player_tooltip player_id="769692" first="Alex" last="Covey"], and Dylan Bear. The winner of this should cruise past North Montgomery. On the other side, Danville and [player_tooltip player_id="1048732" first="Brady" last="Ruggles"] have a clear path to the finals with games against Greencastle and the winner of Frankfort/Monrovia. I am going to take Danville to pull it out thanks to the better draw and the star-power of the Air Force commit, [player_tooltip player_id="1048732" first="Brady" last="Ruggles"]. However, it truly could be whichever of these teams gets hot next week.   Sectional 26: Edgewood The Teams: Brown County, Brownstown Central, Edgewood, Northview, Owen Valley, South Vermillion, West Vigo Our Contenders: Brownstown Central, Northview Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="1158245" first="Jack" last="Benter"] (2024) - Brownstown Central Prediction: #8 Brownstown Central is the clear favorite in this Sectional, but it is hard to predict at the same time as they have not played a single game against Sectional opponents this year. The other contender to watch will be Northview and [player_tooltip player_id="868264" first="Drew" last="Cook"] who are 4-0 against Sectional opponents this year. They should cruise past West Vigo and [player_tooltip player_id="1253266" first="Zeke" last="Tanoos"] in the opener as they beat them by 15 on the road earlier in the year. Then, they will more than likely take on an Owen Valley squad who they beat by 27 earlier. On the other side, Brownstown Central and [player_tooltip player_id="1158245" first="Jack" last="Benter"] drew the bye and they will take the winner of the Edgewood and Caden Huttenlocker and [player_tooltip player_id="1160271" first="Zach" last="Sims"] vs South Vermillion and Anthony Garzolini and Lucas Uselman. I am going to take Brownstown Central to take down Northview in the finals thanks to [player_tooltip player_id="1158245" first="Jack" last="Benter"]’s scoring ability, but because there are no common opponents between these two teams, it is really anybody’s game.   Sectional 27: Lebanon The Teams: Brebeuf Jesuit, Christel House, Guerin Catholic, Indianapolis Chatard, Indianapolis Shortridge, Lebanon Our Contenders: Brebeuf Jesuit, Guerin Catholic, Indianapolis Chatard Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="870225" first="Billy" last="Smith"] (2022) - Brebeuf Jesuit Prediction: Despite five teams entering this Sectional with double-digit wins, it is really a three-team race at the top with the perennial favorites. #11 Brebeuf comes in as the front-runner of these three schools, but they have all lost a game to each other with Brebeuf beating Chatard, Chatard beating Guerin, and Guerin beating Brebeuf. Brebeuf Jesuit got the best draw with games against Indianapolis Shortridge and Lebanon and [player_tooltip player_id="870311" first="Kobe" last="Ottinger"] leading up to the finals. On the other side, Chatard and [player_tooltip player_id="1295301" first="AJ" last="Roseman"] will have to take down Donovan Pruitt and Christel House before facing off with Will Grissom and Guerin Catholic in a rematch of Chatard’s 12 point win from earlier in the year. I am taking Guerin Catholic in this one as Chatard is in the midst of a rough stretch that included seven consecutive losses before their win over Indianapolis Herron. Then, I am going to take Brebeuf Jesuit and [player_tooltip player_id="870225" first="Billy" last="Smith"] to take home the title and redeem a 6-point home loss to the Golden Eagles from earlier in the year. It really could be any of these teams winning the title though as the margins between them are incredibly close.   Sectional 28: Speedway The Teams: Beech Grove, Indian Creek, Indianapolis Herron, Indianapolis Ritter, Indianapolis Washington, Speedway Our Contenders: Beech Grove, Indianapolis Washington Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="868242" first="Anthony" last="Ball"] (2023) - Beech Grove Prediction: I really don’t see any way that Beech Grove does not win this Sectional as they come into the tournament with wins by 28 and 20 over the next two best teams in Indianapolis Ritter and Indianapolis Washington. I would expect Beech Grove to cruise past Tendo Mubuuke and Indianapolis Herron in the opener and then again past [player_tooltip player_id="1168147" first="Jordan" last="Turner"] and Indianapolis Ritter in the semis. On the other side of the draw, Indianapolis Washington and Ammon Burns will battle a 4-16 Indian Creek team before taking on the hosts, Speedway and Reis Walker in the semis. This should set us up for a rematch of Beech Grove’s 20 point win just last Tuesday. In the end, [player_tooltip player_id="868242" first="Anthony" last="Ball"] and Jeremiah Alexander will be too much, and Beech Grove will cruise to its fourth straight Sectional title.